If you are thinking of travelling to Papua New Guinea and walking the Kokoda Trail, please refer to details below.

There's 2 ways you can walk the trail :

From the Port Moresby side of the Owen Stanely Range (Ower's Corner) which is the most popular

Or from the Kokoda side.

You can even start from along the trail at places such as Kagi.

You will get to sleep along the way in village guest houses. Good way to give money back to the local community.

Detailed Map of the Kokoda Trail - a much more detailed map can be found on our Kokoda Website, www.kokodatrail.com.au

aussie

02-10-2002 12:29 AM

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If you wish to know more about the Kokoda Trail or would like to view more photographs, please click on the Forum from the top banner and do a Search by typing in Kokoda Trail.

You will find there are many articles and photographs on this part of history in Papua New Guinea

Lest we Forget

aussie

25-10-2002 03:07 PM

Kokoda Track or Trail? or “Trail”?

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This has been a matter of contention over the years, with Australians arguing that it should be “Track” instead of the Americanised “Trail”.

In fact, its correct name is Kokoda Track, however, during WW11, correspondents used “Trail” and the name has stuck to this day.

Diehards and veterans call it “Track”, however, the majority refers to it as “Trail”.

PS: The PNG Cabinet recently approved the establishment of the Special Purpose Authority and proclaimed the Track as the Kokoda Memorial Trail.

The Special Purpose Authority is comprised of all the landowners along the Kokoda Memorial Trail.

All “trek fees” will be paid directly into their account for them to distribute as they wish.

They currently have around K60, 000 in their account.

The aim of the Special Purpose Authority is to allow the landowners to establish a mechanism to resolve disputes and to allow them to sign off on the master plan being developed for the Track — the aim of the master plan is to develop a self-sustaining eco-adventure trekking industry for the Kioari and Orokaivan people who live along the Kokoda Memorial Trail.

HALL OF FAME - our KOKODA TREKKERS :

Trek 1 - our very first trekkers - Geoff and his son Daniel Trott seen here relaxing after the Anzac Day Trek at the Royal Papua Yacht Club, Port Moresby. Sitting with them are representatives from Isurava Village :

Many thanks to Geoff who took a risk on being our very first trekkers to sign up with pngbd.

Him and his son did exactly what they came to PNG to do....walk the Kokoda Trail from Kokoda to Ower's Corner.

aussie

25-10-2002 03:11 PM

The People of Kokoda Today

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Koiari and Orokaiva villagers who live along the rugged and grueling Kokoda Trail endure countless hardships daily, however, still manage a smile.

It is rather ironic that this area, along which WW11 was fought and won for Australia (and of course the modern day Papua New Guinea), now resembles a forgotten backwater.

Walking to Port Moresby or Kokoda – for these villagers - can take two to three days. There are no regular air services to villages along the trail, exceptions being chartered food drops for trekkers.

There are no schools or aid posts, and if there are, they have no teachers or health workers. Many people have died because of minor illnesses and injuries. Women die during childbirth and pregnancy.

Lack of air services also has a bearing on the delivery of agricultural produce to markets. Coffee, citrus fruit, and fresh vegetables proliferate in the fertile soil of the Kokoda Trail villages, however, getting it to market is the problem.

Young people migrate to towns in search of a better life, leaving behind the elderly and children. Children go to school in either Port Moresby or Kokoda because of the lack of schools and teachers.

The hardships the forgotten Orokaiva and Koiari people who live on the mountains, ridges, and gullies of the Owen Stanley Ranges endure daily bring tears to your eyes.

The smiling, happy faces of children as they call out a “hello” to visitors -amidst these abject hardships - brings so much joy to your heart.

Photograph Trek 2 - Group of Trekkers and their guide and porters before setting out on the Kokoda Track 31st May 2003 - Airlines of Papua New Guinea office, Jackson's Airport, Port Moresby :

Linda Hammond - Victoria

Lenny Hammond - Victoria

Neville Kunst - Victoria

Linda Miller - Victoria

Ivan Stevens - Victoria

Bruce Craven - Victoria

Andrew Kets - Brisbane

Amelia Peters - Brisbane

Malum Nalu - Tourism Promotion Authority, Port Moresby

aussie

25-10-2002 03:13 PM

The Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels

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To read between the lines of ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’, the celebrated poem by Australian digger Bert Beros, will drive you to tears.

The poem, which whilst sentimental, touches a chord that has endured to this day in the hearts of both Australians and Papua New Guineans.

It tells of the prayers of worried Australian mothers, whose young sons are fighting the Japanese on the rugged Kokoda Trail, and how their prayers are answered in the form of ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’.

Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels
Many a mother in Australia when the busy day is done
Sends a prayer to the Almighty for the keeping of her son
Asking that an angel guide him and bring him safely back
Now we see those prayers are answered on the Owen Stanley Track.

For they haven't any halos only holes slashed in their ears
And their faces worked by tattoos with scratch pins in their hair
Bringing back the badly wounded just as steady as a horse
Using leaves to keep the rain off and as gentle as a nurse

Slow and careful in the bad places on the awful mountain track
They look upon their faces would make you think Christ was black
Not a move to hurt the wounded as they treat him like a saint
It's a picture worth recording that an artist's yet to paint

Many a lad will see his mother and husbands see their wives
Just because the fuzzy wuzzy carried them to save their lives
From mortar bombs and machine gun fire or chance surprise attacks
To the safety and the care of doctors at the bottom of the track

May the mothers of Australia when they offer up a prayer
Mention those impromptu angels with their fuzzy wuzzy hair.

- Bert Beros

Those dark days of WW11 are well and truly over but today, a younger, modern ‘fuzzy wuzzy angel’ is continuing the great tradition of its grandfathers.

These are the guides and porters of the Kokoda Trail, who bring overseas trekkers over this famous wartime icon.

Many of these young men, from the Koiari and Orokaiva villages along the trail, would not otherwise get paid employment in town.

The booming tourism industry along the Kokoda Trail is offering them a chance to earn money, rather than indulge in a life of crime like many of their peers.

Young men from all villages along the trail - Vesulogo, Girinumu, Nauro, Manari, Efogi, Naduri, Kagi, Alola, Hoi, Kovelo, and then Kokoda Station – are engaged as guides and porters.

It gives them a chance to earn an income and also helps to curb the law and order problem.

Trekkers walking along the trail is very good for the economy all the way from Sogeri to Kokoda.

The guides and porters of the Kokoda Trail, unlike many of their peers who roam around aimlessly in the towns and cities of PNG, know the importance of the Kokoda Trail.

It has given them a new lease on life.

Photograph : Seven out of the nine trekkers mentioned above, seen here at the Granville Hotel on their return to Port Moresby 7th June, 2003 one day earlier than anticipated :

aussie

25-10-2002 03:15 PM

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Trek 3 : 8 Trekkers headed out to Kokoda on the 2nd July for a 9 day 8 night trek.